'Shoplifter' bleeds to death after falling on 'stolen' bottles

A suspected shoplifter bled to death after falling on bottles of alcohol he was hiding as he was stopped by a security guard, an inquest heard.

Kieran Church, 30, died after being stopped by 20-year-old Sainsbury's security guard Jordan Rose in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK, on February 9.

He suffered wounds to his abdomen from the broken bottles and died in the car park of The Shires shopping centre.

Earlier on the day he died, Mr Church, also known as Kieran Hayes, was stopped by Mr Rose after leaving a Sainsbury's store with several bottles of brandy.

He then handed the drink back. Mr Rose said he spotted a syringe sticking out of Mr Church's pocket, and let him go to avoid a confrontation.

Later that afternoon, security staff in Asda saw Mr Church take two bottles alcohol from a shelf, hide them inside his jacket and leave the store.

Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court in Salisbury heard that Mr Church was homeless and addicted to drugs, and often stole bottles of alcohol to sell for money.

Mr Rose was walking to a local police station to hand in CCTV of the earlier incident when he saw Mr Church leaving the Asda supermarket.

Asda security guard Denise Thomas told the inquest that Mr Church 'was walking in the direction of the car park and cash machines and as he was walking away I politely and calmly said, “excuse me', and he ignored me'.

She added: 'A Sainsbury's security guard I didn't know ran at the male suspect from behind and he forcibly pounced on him.'

Coroner David Ridley said: 'Her view is that it was a clear act to take the male to the ground as opposed to detaining him standing up.

'It caused the male shoplifter to fall face down with the Sainsbury's security guard on top of him.'

CCTV of the incident was played to the court.

Mr Rose said to the inquest that he had planned to use a recognised detention technique to raise Mr Church's arms so he could not use anything in his pockets, such as a syringe.

He said: 'I wouldn't say I lost balance.'

The coroner asked: 'Once contact is made, both of you lost balance and you fell on to Kieran?'

Mr Rose replied: 'Yes. The first thing I did was take hold on his right wrist. Then it became apparent that it was really serious.

'The ambulance was called. It felt like a lifetime but it was probably only five or six minutes.First pictures of Thomson holiday rep who was doused in acid in tourist hotspot

'After the earlier incident I didn't hear of Kieran being involved in anything else, so I assumed he had left the area.

'I knew he had failed to get what he wanted from our store, so it was only a matter of time before he tried elsewhere.

'Due to the needle he posed a risk. By chance of going into The Shires I spotted him again. You can follow and detain once you have got the crime reference number from the police.'

Mr Church suffered a'”catastrophic haemorrhage' and died shortly after the incident.

A post-mortem examination found he suffered three incised wounds to his abdomen which caused damage to his aorta and inferior vena cava.

Mr Ridley recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

After the inquest, Mr Church's partner shook Mr Rose's hand and told him: 'We don't hold you responsible – it was an accident – and that's from all the family.'